FeNC/MXene hybrid nanosheet as an efficient electrocatalyst for oxygen reduction reaction

The iron–nitrogen–carbon (FeNC) catalyst, as a highly active and stable non-precious metal catalyst, has emerged as one of the most promising alternatives to replace the platinum catalyst for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). Herein, a novel FeNC/MXene hybrid nanosheet was, for the first time, explored via pyrolysis of an iron–ligand complex and MXene nanosheets. The structure and morphology characterizations reveal that a thin and rugged FeNC coating was closely attached on the surface of MXene, forming a hybrid nanosheet structure with an excellent conductive substrate and many electrocatalytic active sites on the substrate. The electrochemical measurements disclose that the FeNC/MXene hybrid nanosheet exhibited a remarkable electrocatalytic performance, with a 25 mV higher half-wave potential (0.814 V versus RHE) than the Pt/C counterpart. More importantly, this hybrid presented a superb durability, with only 2.6% decay after a 20 000 s continuous test, much better than the 15.8% degradation for Pt/C. This work not only demonstrates the promising performance of the FeNC/MXene hybrid nanosheet for ORR, but more importantly provides new insight into the rational design of non-noble-metal catalysts using an MXene support.